A Good Deal
by Phalanx30
Summary: An AU of "Not Fade Away" Fred and Wesley sometime after the big battle. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: **I own none of the characters, concepts, or universe this is story set in. They are all owned by their respective copyright holders.

**Spoilers: **Angel "Not Fade Away"

**Timeline: **Years post-NFA

A Good Deal

Fred was standing in the doorway to her bedroom, watching the sleeping form of Wesley. He was not sleeping peacefully. There was sweating, murmuring, some yelling, thrashing about and whimpering. She kept hearing two names out of the many things he was dreaming about. Her own name and Illyria. Would that thing never stop haunting them. She was always there to comfort him, and the confortin' could get rather interesting.

'_Another nightmare, well, at least they're not getting any worse_' she thought as she watched. She supposed it was an inevitable side effect of the spell that had been cast on him. She had heard that Angel, Spike and Gunn had similar problems. Their subconscious mind trying to grasp at a reality that their conscious one was unable to reach. She had stayed up late to finish up a lecture and set of equations for a class she was teaching tomorrow at a local college. She was also researching the most recent of Cordy's visions.

Wesley would have helped her had she not forced him to get some sleep, he had pushed himself too hard on researching and patrolling trying to find the whereabouts of a new vampire gang who had moved into the area. Their special brand of depravity was attacking mothers with babies, turning the one so she would eat the other, so their numbers were growing steadily. Unfortunately for Angel Investigations, their reputation had grown to become noticed in the underworld, thus the core of the gang had so far eluded detection and the dusting that would have followed.

Usually Wesley's nightmares were kept at bay if she were there as he fell asleep, he was comforted and lulled by her proximity, touch, and warmth. He had the same effect on her nightmares about Pylea and the thing with Illyria. She kept watching him. She had tried to wake him during these dreams, he had reacted violently, he had hurt himself and tried to hurt her unsuccessfully on many occasions, so she knew it was best to wait until the thrashing and yelling had subsided, when he was in the sobbing and moaning phase. The pattern was fairly constant. He was moving into this state of relative calm, so she moved towards him.

"Come on Wes, you gotta wake up." she softly said as she shook him a little. He still woke up with a start, his eyes darting frantically around for the source of the voice he longed to hear for real, not just in his wonderful yet terrifying dreams. He stared at her in confusion and then in anger "Illyria, I told you not be her ever again, please be blue, 'that' at least I can handle."

Fred smiled sympathetically "Sorry Wes, I can't do that, It's just little 'ole Fred here, Illyria's gone for good, don't you remember?" She had been through this before as well, he seemingly refused to accept that she was back. Her death had hit him hard, and from what he had been told, it was impossible for her to be returned to life, even worse for him, there was the very real possibility that she would be denied even an afterlife. He had lost her in every sense of the word. However, Wes had a bad habit of believing things that were simply not true. In this case it led him to accepting an assignment he knew he would fail, despite telling Illyria he had no intention of doing so. He had come to an acceptance of an end to it all, though it wasn't in his nature to do it himself. He had fought and failed, as he knew he would.

Wesley searched her face for a moment, and ever so slowly and gently put his hand on her cheek. He knew then that this was no lie. Just to be sure, however, he felt for her heartbeat. "I'm sorry, my darling Fred, I keep doing that, it's like I'm waiting to wake up." She held him then "I know, god do I know. I was the one who was killed and scattered, I had to watch what she did with my body, what she did to you and the others. I am just glad I found my way back."

Wesley didn't need to be reminded what her death had driven him to. The memory of what had happened after he died was a treasured one however. After he had told the image of Fred that he loved her he had faded into nothingness. Fred had told him what had happened afterwards. Illyria had killed the sorcerer who had gutted him. Then on a strange impulse, she had kneeled at his side and kissed him one last time. At that moment Fred's grief at his passing overwhelmed Illyria's essence and had caused it to be scattered and disposed of in turn. Before all of her power left, Fred used some of it to restore her own and Wesley's bodies. It had pulsed through them and Wesley had gasped back to life.

He didn't believe she was back at first, but she had convinced him. There wasn't time for a tearful reunion as they still had to meet the rest of the team in the alley behind the Hyperion. They had raced back to Wesley's apartment where they acquired weapons, and more importantly, a book on the opening of portals. They had met up with Angel, Spike, and a heavily wounded Gunn in the alley.

Fred's appearance was met with joy by everyone and served as an added motivation to the grim determination they had before. Gunn was still wounded however, so Fred had appointed herself as a kind of guardian over him. Wesley, for his part made sure that none of the demon horde could attack Fred on the flank or in the back. She in turn would do the same for Gunn with portals and more conventional weaponry. It was Angel and Spike who had done most of the damage. They had quite literally brought all of their powers to bear and had torn into the demon ranks with a holy savagery that was fueled by the idea that this was a battle they could, no that they would win.

After it was over, they had surprisingly, been unscathed. Gunn still had to go the hospital. And Angel was grousing about the fact that he didn't get to kill the dragon. It had zeroed in on the three humans in the group, intending to immolate them all in one pass. What it hadn't counted on was Wesley shooting it and Fred, who had been alerted by the shooting, had opened a portal directly in its path. After seeing Gunn to an ambulance, they had went to the Hyperion. It was there that Fred had tearful reunions with Spike and Angel.

At this point they had abruptly been contacted by the Powers that Be. They had seen what Angel had tried to do and had deemed a reward was in order for such a strike against evil. Further joy was had when Cordelia had appeared, and not as a manifested spirit, but a solid part-demon conduit to the aforementioned Powers. After much rejoicing, especially by Angel and Wesley, glad to have the old Cordy back. Wesley and Fred had retired to one of the previously abandoned rooms. They had been too emotionally and physically exhausted to do anything other than fall asleep in each other's arms.

There was no time to savor the victory, Cordelia had informed everyone the next morning that the Senior Partners weren't finished with them. The only thing to do would be to run, soon and fast. They had left L.A. behind, and had to fight off some more attempts at retaliation for a couple of weeks. eventually, however, even the Senior Partners grew tired of the losses, both in personnel and prestige, and called off the pursuit.

The group had been steadily increasing in numbers as it went, making each fight that much easier. Connor had come back first. Even Lorne, with much protesting and anger had been forced to rejoin the group in its flight. More importantly there was another organization that had taken notice of Angel's actions, the Watchers Council. As time went on they had become more organized. Every time Team Angel had become embroiled in a noticable fight, a group of Slayers and Watchers had almost always appeared to help out. Finally, the Council had assigned a permanent escort of Slayers, with Wesley serving as an on-site watcher. Furthermore, though the group didn't know it, if Wolfram and Hart was Evil Incorporated than the Council was its complete opposite. Eventually, their resources and connections rivalled those of the enemy. They were able to meet the schemes and plans of said enemy on a one-for-one basis, at least on earth. The inter-dimensional power of the law firm was still immeasurable and the council wouldn't be able to match it for some time, if ever.

Once the running was over, the group had settled in another city and gotten back to helping the helpless. Wesley and Fred had celebrated with would have been an excellent and life affirming honeymoon under different circumstances. They did eventually have those circumstances. Fred still marveled at the change in the man before her. It seemed like he looked years younger than he actually was. He had undergone a reverse transformation when she had died. Lorne hadn't stayed with the group, he re-opened something like Caritas and was entirely happy. The memories of her return, the fight, and the running were happy and necessary and totally fabricated.

What had actually happened after Wesley had died was that Fred had realized what she wanted. She had threatened Vail, who as the sole surviving member of the Black Thorn had acquired enormous influence. She had made a deal with him. The group, her family, would not interfere with Wolfram and Hart anymore, in any way. They would go to a city without even a branch of the firm. In return for this neutralization of Angel and his team and Vail's life, Fred wanted and received a full restoration of the group. Wesley and Cordelia were resurrected, Gunn was healed. The battle in the alley still took place but the demon army was under strict orders to not kill, only to subdue and knockout. The group had woken up in their new base of operations in the new city with the memories implanted. More importantly to Fred the Senior Partners had used powerful masking magics on her so no one would be able to tell the truth. The grief over Wesley's death was massive in scope, but the power of an Old One is not so easily overcome.

Illyria had found when she had assumed the shell's form for Wesley that last time, she had received that which she been craving since her rebirth. It was love, or as Illyria saw it, worship. The others in the half-breed's group had shown a similar if less intense affection for the shell. Illyria found that she desired more of this. Thus the bargain she had made with Vail. Her army and most of her powers were gone, but as Winifred Burkle she had access to the devotion that she would not have had otherwise. Everybody in the group and those who they occasionally associated with were happy. Besides, she had abhorred human grief, its opposite she preferred much more.

She came back to the present and looked at Wesley "Come on Wes, let's get you back to sleep, it's going to be a busy day and you need all the rest you can get." He smiled back "Of course, just be sure to wake me before you leave, I want to see you off properly." She moved to hold him and laid him down, pecking at him as she did so. She waited until he was almost asleep before she started to move. He reached out for her, "You will be here, won't you?" She hugged him one more time "Shh, yes, don't worry." He drifted off, his breathing soft. Fred moved back to the doorway where she stared at him again, he looked so at peace. She reflected that it certainly was a good deal.

She smiled, cocked her head to the side, and her eyes flashed blue for an instant, and she said softly "I ain't goin' anywhere, Wes."


End file.
